The Last of Us Season 2: Episode 4 REVIEW
“Day One”
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The second season of the American post-apocalyptic drama television series The Last of Us is set to premiere on HBO in 2025. Based on the video game franchise developed by Naughty Dog.
The second season, based on the 2020 game The Last of Us Part II, follows Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) five years after the events of the first season, and introduces Abby (Kaitlyn Dever).
The season was filmed in British Columbia from February to August 2024. Druckmann, Mazin, and Peter Hoar returned as directors, alongside newcomers Kate Herron, Nina Lopez-Corrado, Mark Mylod, and Stephen Williams. The season is expected to span seven episodes.
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Oh my goodness. That was good. That was freaking good. Why do I allow him to subject me to this mess? Oh my god. All right. Um, so just got done looking at episode four of the season two, uh, The Last of Us. Uh, this is not our BS and Bixs, uh, review. So, Balls and Bricks, if you don’t know, we go into deep dive with in connections to the game. This is only going to be our spoiler discussion based on this episode alone. So, if you have not seen the episode yet, go and watch the episode and then come back to this and watch it. If you want a more deep dive that’s connected to the game, go and check out our Bottles and Bicks podcast, which is on Spotify, which is on YouTube, and also on other places. So, guys, uh this is a crazy episode. Um, Jorge, I I feel like you went through a lot of range of emotions in this episode. Um, ah, tell me how are you doing? Cuz not to say that we don’t matter, but I’m trying to get a gauge on there’s a lot that happened. There’s a lot that happened. No, it I think I can I can whole like this episode frustrated me. I think that’s the nicest way that I’ll put it. No, it I I think um so this episode obviously was very intense. Um had a lot of just kind of going back to like episode one and two, like a lot of action. Um, you know, you’re I’m kind of noticing how the um basically the root system is is everywhere. So, that obviously is a problem. Um the you you definitely get a a different perspective between um L um no W what was it WLF and then the the SCAR people. Mhm. you you see the the deep um I guess like blind trust slashfaith that that the scar people have like when that one dude was getting tortured. I mean you you almost reach a point where he literally like was stick like he stuck out his hand to get completely burned again. And I think um you know the the other dude realized that he can’t break him. Um the the part that’s like wild was there were there were a lot of vivid images in this episode. Um going from you know like them entering the room and seeing all those people gutted. Um, seeing the one uh WLF guy like having 18 arrows in the back of his, you know, like back. Uh, so it it’s wild. But when you when you go from that one room where they were where the people were like kind of gutted and the other people come in, you get this like weird rush of like they’re escaping the WLF, which, you know, I can I can see that like very strategic, very all that. But then you get like this horde of, you know, like infected that are trying to attack him. And then, you know, Ellie gives, you know, basically like shows her superpower, per se, of like getting bit. And and you get this crazy intense scene of like you go from Ellie basically telling her like, you know, I’m I’m immune to all this. like her basically aiming a gun at her for the whole night. And you can tell cuz in the way that they shot it, like the girl looked like she just did a raging all nighter, but you go from like that crazy high to okay, like I’m pregnant and then like you get this like let’s be honest scene happening and it it’s almost my only knock and I don’t know if the game was like this. So this is where you guys can like help me like that transition just it it just didn’t feel correct for me. Like I felt like that was too much of like jumping of emotions where it it just it didn’t that’s probably the first time that I I I’ve kind of I took a step back from the actual show itself. Mhm. [Music] Um, other than that though, I mean, this was this was pretty cool. Pretty pretty fun. Um, but yeah, like I’m I’m just like um I agree with you. I agree with you. It um like the even I’m even trying to think like even in real like the the transition wouldn’t happen like that in real like No. Yeah, the transition was off for sure. Uh it it there’s moments like this. Uh there’s quite some remixing. Jesus Christ. But uh there’s similarities in the game for sure, but I suppose in short in the game it just felt more organic whereas the transition you’re talking about unfortunately it did come off like like wait what? Yeah. No. And I think I think you had it didn’t feel organic like it didn’t feel true. No. It felt like they were just trying to add a scene in there, you know, like like force something that just that didn’t need to happen. I think I think I think it’s fine, but it just it doesn’t the timing is off. I think the timing is way off. This is what I’ll say. everything that happened within man I would say like uh five to 10 minutes between different scenes all those different points do have to happen. I’ll put it to you like that. Like uh Dena has to find out about Ellie. Um Ellie does put herself in a precarious situation to have that happen. um everything that happened between them getting out um like whether it’s in the train sequence or whether it was the horde of zombies going after them. All that does happen even down to them being at a certain point and this impass of like crap eventually, you know, Ellie’s going to have to find out she’s pregnant. They even kind of led up to it because I mean we knew as the gamers we knew, right? Yep. Like at one point um I think it was Bizzy and Ron was sitting there smirking like I literally misses Bizzy and like she’s not she’s not throwing up because of those dead bodies. Right. So we knew but it was kind of like the hints were there but if you didn’t see it you didn’t catch it. It’s kind of like and then they smashed it all into one emotional reaction. And I think the problem with that, it’s not well it’s not necessarily a problem, but that’s the issue that comes with transition of game to real life. It’s kind of like what do you sacrifice in that specific moment? Do you wait right to tell the next episode when they’re about to leave? Or do you wait at the very end of the episode when like Ellie is about to go and like head that way and Dena says, “Look, I’m pregnant. I I I I I want to go with you, but I want you to know the truth. Like, I’m pregnant. As opposed to it being that same exact moment that one, she stops putting the gun on her. Two, she professes her love to her. Maybe the pregnancy could have been left another moment. I think that from a transitional written standpoint, it could have been at the very end of the episode before they make a decision whether or not to go. I think that would have been a great little tie- off. I think that would have made Yeah, that that would have been a little bit more Yeah, cuz I I think that’s just too much because the last episode we knew for a fact that Dena liked Ellie. We’ve known, right? And most of us knew that Ellie liked Dena. It was just like how is this going to kind of come out, right? And they led these little breadcrumbs and it would have been interesting if they would have had an intimate moment. It would interesting that that intimate moment like you know that was right after you know she had a gun on her. Then at the end of the episode, maybe at that moment, it’s like before they go, like look, I just want to be honest with you. I’m gonna ride with you. I’m gonna die with you, but we’re not dying alone. Like, I am pregnant. And then they end the episode like that. I think that would have been a better smoother. That would have been a better because all those things have to happen. And I think it have been probably been better than waiting until another episode to do that because truth be told, you know, it it worked in tandem like her getting bit and them and their emotions that made sense. I think those two things do make sense, but adding in the fact of her being pregnant and then like like what does this mean? Like we’re you know I’m gonna be a dad. It was a lot. That was that was that was I I can say that was a lot. I don’t have a problem with it because I know where it all goes. And I also don’t have a problem with it because it’s really not enough time to sit. I wouldn’t be having no babies up in a Armageddon situation like this. let alone I don’t even know if I was Dean if I would have even told Ellie to be honest with you if if it was me I don’t know if I would have actually realistically told her but because that’s how the game kind of wrote it um those things did need to happen but just to make it more sense for you like all the different things did kind of piece of that now the thing that I also say there’s a there’s a huge difference it’s a difference playing something like this and watching it yeah no watching it and seeing it in the confound of like 60 minutes. That’s a lot. I give them credit for them working this remix the way they did. Structure. They they did a masterful job on that route. But I think that to Jorge’s point, I think the pregnancy part, they could have left that as a book in in the end of this episode and it would have transitioned a little bit better because honestly having the WLF being introduced in general was one thing, but when you go and you have my man Jeffrey D. Morgan in the cut in this episode, that was a whole lot in and of itself. That scene one, that was a full frontal nudity torture scene that I was surprised that HBO would go that route. Come on, this is HBO. It’s HBO. No, I’m not surprised at that. Not at all. Especially House of the Dragon, remember? You know what? House of the Dragon, Game of Thrones. Yeah, but I’m saying video game show. That’s fairly like this. It’s It’s a little different. But either way, I I just felt like there was a lot of different breadcrumbs that were here that kind of unpacked it and they try to unpack it all. I was hyped because throughout the course of the episode from the beginning all the way to where we hit this impass, I was on the edge of my seat and I I mean it it opened with Jeffrey Wright blowing up a whole caravan of his own people. That that scene was dope. That’s definitely one of the best scenes. That’s why the choice to put the the reveal of the pregnancy and the the hookup like instantaneous. To me, that’s why it worked well for me because if you would have done that right after, if you would have had them hook up a little bit after that sequence in the beginning, to me, it would have felt odd because the beginning is very much setting up Isaac and the wolf vibe, aesthetic, and quote unquote motto vibe of like, oh, this is what Seattle’s like. And then at the end, you bring in this is the energy that’s coming from from these two. And it might have come off a little too novella-ish. Like in the beginning they hook up and then she’s pregnant and then that’s why I think for me it felt like and it’s not a new thing. I mean people have done this before where like it’s just synch synchronized energy of just like the feelings are all out. Uh Dena thought she was about to kill the lover alive. She’s immune but she’s also hiding a secret and it’s like all right secrets are out. Let’s let it all out. And then them, you know, I almost said a word, but they them getting together. And I to to me, I just I I like the two different versions because in the game, the way you experience this because you’re trying to develop connection through gameplay in a cut scene. And that’ll help you up why Dena’s ride or die with Ellie up to that point. And with this one, it feels like, okay, you’re sharing something very private and something that you’ve been probably holding for a while. I’m showing you my cards. And I don’t know, I I dug it. I It felt um felt as of now, right, for me. And again, I just commend the way they’ve been they broke down this episode structure-wise and pacing wise. Like this episode had a lot. Yeah. Yeah, cuz even this is the thing. This scene alone, right, for me as a gamer was one of my favorite Yep. moments of the whole entire live action series. Yeah. Right. I don’t know how it made Jorge feel, but I know how it made me feel. And so I’m bringing up this. I mean, you guys can talk on it, but in the same episode, we got a whole lot in the back half. So that’s that’s what I’m saying. Like there’s a lot of different thread points and I think it was just some of it was just a little bit added much. I don’t know if it needed everything cuz that that scene alone was just needed for their dynamics of their relationship. Even I mean the actress playing Grodina was killing it this episode. Yeah, but I’m talking too much. What did you guys think? I I apologize. I kind of piggyback off everything you said. No, I but I I think it’s I think the part that like the the reason I I’m looking I’m thinking back on this episode and the reason I think that that whole part just didn’t make sense. Like you have this group of people like the army that was trying to to get them, you know, and then the the swarm of infected is trying to get them. But what the hell happened to all them? Wait, who? Like the wolf? The infected the wolf pe like you like they ran into like this little I don’t even know what that was. Yeah. Oh, yeah. They they ran into the they ran into the um so they they they left the So remember they were in um a subway area. But why wouldn’t they chase them? I guess is more more my thing. They have the whole root system throughout obviously this whole place. So, you mean to tell them that they couldn’t notice where they were at or like I guess in my mind they they had this like lovely and wonderful like you know date night and you’re like you’re looking at like okay I don’t care what the game did or the show. Yeah. I’m realistically like no way them things would have stopped from that little coil keeping them out. I hear you. Yeah. It’s it’s just kind of I I don’t know. That’s that’s how it was. And then like I Oh, no. And even even the way like you kind of phrased if if them on top of the building finding that uh what was it like White Springs or whatever the heck it’s called. But that would have been the part where Yeah. Like it would have been great for them to like do the little hand, you know, like thing c, you know, like holding hands and her to be like, “Hey Ellie, just to let you know, like I’m pregnant.” Yeah. And then like, you know, and see I think that’s why they they wanted to avoid that cuz it’s it’s such a like part of the playbook of television that they like like people do that all the time. It’s just like why don’t we just like and again for a lot of people it’s it’s a risk of putting all these layers into it. And I think the reason why the wolf and the the infected didn’t get because a I’m pretty sure all those wolves are dead. Like it was like Oh no, were gone. It was a fish in a barrel. Yeah, it was it was saran. It was rapid. At this point it was just been infected just keeping on moving. I guess my thing is it’s like they all have radios or like walkie-talkies. So you would think that they would walkie talk like hey code red in in in the subway system like do something. And I guess that’s the part where I’m confused. Or maybe was that what when they went to the top of the building, is that what they were seeing in the distance where like they were blowing up all that other stuff? I can’t say. Okay. I cannot comment on that. Um but you’re on the right track. I I I’m I’m digging hearing Jorge like putting the pieces together. I’m like, huh? Cuz that’s how I was feeling playing the game. Like the questions that he’s asking. That’s good questions. That’s the right question. Can I just say just to sort of uh to reinforce what Jorge was saying before, I unfortunately the the transition definitely was not working. Like first off, Dena Dena just found out that like in some sense Ellie is for real and this is after like a night of like Dena like staying up. She has gone to sleep. She’s tense. Okay. The the only real thing that should be happening when she finally like it clicks like oh my oh my oh my god at least like telling the truth is that she she should just like slunk over passed out from being tense for like god knows how long right you know with flashlight you know but um so yeah no I like she basically just almost found out that like Ellie is could be equivalent to like Jesus or some kind of meionic figure. I’m being for real though. like she could be the only one of her kind on earth, okay, that’s immune for real. It’s like that serious. And then add on the whole, you know, sitting on the couch for hours. It it just is sort of like, oh, you all right? Oh, okay. Um, relieved. Oh, yeah. By the way, I’m pregnant. Bam. Sex. Like it just feels um especially after everything that just proceeded in the episode and afterwards, it just just they definitely could have like maybe just broke it up, put one part there and then put the other part like before the end credits or something some something could have been done to make the timing better for sure. um the stuff with like the you know Jeffrey Wright and uh these other like wolf characters that’s so it’s it’s all fine I suppose. Um and this is not something I ever thought I would say but I I would be lying if I I definitely got some like Walking Dead vibes. Now I don’t know if that’s good or bad yet but I got a lot of that sentiment. um watching this episode, which was unexpected. Um but but I will say this was way better than the the previous episode by like a larger margin, I thought. Yeah. Um Jorge, I wanted you to see this picture. Check this out. [Laughter] Can you read that? Yeah. But I’m not gonna lie to you. Jorge he’s pointing out some he he’s pointing out some interesting I I don’t want to call him pacing issues, but no, he it’s it’s not even just off what what he’s talking about is not even just based off of the show. This is the story. Yeah. Well, this is from a structure standpoint of how the game even functions. He’s questioning things that maybe Neil hadn’t even thought about because in the moment that you’re playing it, you’re playing, you’re like, “Survival mode, survival mode, survival mode, peace for a second, survival mode, survival, survival mode, another piece for a second.” And it’s different translating that from what was written, what you executed, what was done to you, you kind of have to think outside the box with certain smaller threads. And I think that there are certain contingencies they put um for certain characters for sure. Um because even even again with Jeffrey Wright’s character that was that told me everything I need to know about him. One like if he chose to just blow up all those other people, then yeah, nah, he’s willing to do whatever it takes to get whatever it needs to be done. But then two, the way that he took the guy that was already doubting their convictions and pulled him out, groomed him, and you see who he is later on, what kind of person he is. It’s like, okay, he he can pull people, and that’s what he’s about. But, uh, yeah, Ty, sorry I hadn’t given you any time to talk, man. How you what’ you think about this episode, bro? So, um, what I find interesting about this episode is, um, it it it all feels like even exchange, if you will. Um, you know, Dena finds out about Ellie. Ellie finds out she’s pregnant, you know, and and I think what it it almost feels like a risk and reward kind of situation because she, you know, they go through this entire gauntlet knowing the risks that are going on and she actually gets to she basically confides her deepest secret into the person she loves the most. And you know, Dena turns it on its head. not a bad way and says, “Oh, by the way, I’m pregnant.” And I understand from folks that from the folks that are just watching it not understanding, you know, because they haven’t seen the game. I I had to step outside of my my gamer sense and look at it from Jorge’s perspective. I’m like, if I actually was watching this, not as a gamer, this would probably feel like a bit bad episode for me because it feels like I got I got bombarded with with things that some of it didn’t really feel necessary, especially the intimacy scene with the two of them. and you know it it it would feel very forced but playing you know seeing the game you know it’s like these are things that they have to incorporate in now I don’t think they needed to incorporate the intimacy scene right then and there but it’s appropriate especially if they’re trying to do the same story or remotely close to it in the game so I still like the episode but it it right now cuz I right now it’s not um it’s not a bad episode. It’s but it’s just not in my top, you know, liked episodes. But for what it was worth, it it was all necessary understanding they’re trying to move this uh entire game forward in these few episodes that they have, you know. Yeah. No, I mean I think that’s fair because as a as a person that played the game and know where the game goes, I have no issues with it cuz I already kind of know. You know what I mean? Um I think that structurally there are certain things they could have put in different pockets. And maybe if you had a a a longer, how do I say this without sounding negative? a longer season where you could kind of like Well, that’s that’s the other thing. Like this is episode four. We have three more left and I feel there’s so much more story to be told. But it’s third season. It’s the third season. No, no, I know there’s a third, but it’s like how are you going to wrap up? You’re not. You’re not. That was a big talking point for a lot of people being like, you’re not gonna it’s not he’s spitting. And you know what? So, Sam, you saw you saw episode you you saw uh season the final season of Game of Thrones, right? You saw that one. Season 8. Oh my god. Yeah, I did. Okay. So, now now before I go down, hold on. Hold on. What I will say for Jorge, cuz he doesn’t know. Yeah. The second game, this season is only going to be the equivalent of half of it of just the second game. This season will not this will not end in any way, shape, or form with a conclusion at all. It’s going to be, as far as I know, either 35% or 50% of the second game. The third season concludes it. This is not I promise you it’s not going to end with any kind of way. I don’t even know how they actually going to really truly end it well because that was the discrepancy that I had going into this. I was like, if this is only seven episodes and you know for a fact you’re going to lead into a third season, it’s going to have the the rest of it and I don’t know how you where do you stop this? And again, I’m saying having having played the game, but I’m just telling you this is not gonna wrap up with like a a ending that makes in my opinion. Yeah. A good trade-off. Go ahead, D. This is now Wait, this is now episode two also that we have zero Abby in it. So you have like two episodes, right? Right. He’s right, dog. I’m telling you, he’s on to something for real. For real. I mean, I can’t speak on it because I ain’t I played the game and I’m not going to spoil it for him. No, no, yeah. Yeah. And I And I don’t either. What? Yeah. It’s like you guys know the reason, but for someone like me who’s watching this, I don’t know how you going to feel about it. Like completely blind, it bro. you you kind of start thinking it’s like you literally have this character who who came in and for better lack of terms like killed off the your main person y and then it’s like feel that pain feel poof like disappeared like you you know nothing about this hold that pain in beer I’ll buy you a beer we if I can make my way to your neck of the woods you make mine at the end of the season I’ll buy you a beer and then hold that pain in and frustration cuz I can guarantee you this. Cuz I was there. We were there. But what he’s what he’s saying though about like, you know, like there’s just so much happening and it it feels like a little bit strange that like we’re almost very soon about to be on season 3. Um it it it just feels like um there’s so much story that we’re kind of like shortcutting. Um, and I know people had fears about this in season 7 of uh, Game of Thrones. And then in season 8, this was the first time I think early in the first half. I remember being like, “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Something’s really wrong here.” Uh, when we learned the fate of the Night King, I believe he was called. I remember being like, “Hang on. Something’s something’s wildly off. Wildly off. Like, we’ve been moving way too fast. Um, we’re skipping moments that maybe should have happened, you know? So, like even you were just saying like like like we’re used to game play. That’s why like like for example, there’s not spoiling that much, but like you see all those those bodies hung up in that building. If if I was to do the math, it took me a couple hours to get to that point in gameplay because I’m roaming the city. I’m figuring out like mechanics and whatnot. So that’s why I think for a lot of us it’s like wait a minute like the the flow is different and yet you okay but if if Jorge if Jorge saw the marijuana scene if he experienced that moment how it happens in the game and then you compare that to this wild moment in the show where they uh you know right before they have sex you know that transition. Okay, I I have a sinking feeling Jorge is going to say that the what happened in the game was more organic, but this doesn’t necessarily have to do because the game is [ __ ] you know, 30 40 hours or whatever the [ __ ] it is. You know what I’m saying? I think it’s just I one story was just told organ organically better. I disagree only because try to word this carefully because there’s so many people watching this. This the the route that this is going is not it’s parallel. This is not the route that the whole story is going to be told. No. And that’s all I can say without saying too much. Wow. There is an absolute reason why there are things that are not lining up for you and they’re not going to line up until you reach a certain point. And I personally that’s not going to happen until the third season. It’s not true. So what I’m saying is ride the wave. Yeah. But feel the frustration. I hate to say it that way cuz there’s a point in the game that when we’re on that journey and we took that journey, we were pissed. What’s going to happen for you is the complete opposite. You going to hit that impass and you’re like finally I know what the hell’s going on. I promise you that. There is that there is that everyone is watching this if you haven’t played the game. I’m trying my best to preserve you. No, listen. Sam is right. What I’m what I’m alluding to is different, Sam. But what’s but what Sam is saying that part we’re we’re both saying two truths. I I believe um his is more provable on his side, but uh on my side, it’s like I’m hoping I’m wrong, but um uh but yeah, no, that that is definitely true. There are some some things um that uh particularly with Abby where you’re just like what in God’s name like why Abby why do this sort it it really does make uh sense in the end whether you agree with it or not it’ll be a different story but at least you’ll understand like ah this is why the figure of Abby was was a thing you know oh is I think oh I think he’s lost some crust tail. Yeah, I think we lost some. Oh, no. All right, so look. All right, let’s let’s let’s break this down really quick. Um, I do think it was some really amazing action. I mean, I think a lot of people have been waiting for this level of action uh from the first season that we haven’t gotten. Um, and I mean the first episode definitely was high octane gas. I mean, second episode went beyond that. And then now like there is no protector, right? There is no Joel. No, Tommy ain’t out there. This is just Ellie. And I think the first moment where I realized this is like really different was when Ellie was kind of cornered by the guy and she was trying to play stealth and she realized crap. And it was before they got in there, Dena was like what happens if we get in there and we get cornered, what are you going to do? Yeah. And and I love their relationship because Ellie didn’t have to say it. Dena said, “Okay.” And that moment that Dena shot old dude in the head and Ellie like knifed O dude with the neck. I was like, “Oh, this is game play.” And from that moment, it was like it was the one take. It kept on moving. It kept on going. Um, but it was like I don’t know if you noticed, Jorge, when we when it got down to the train station, I was like, “Hopefully see red the subway.” No. Yeah. As soon and as soon as you said that, you just see the little red flare coming through and I was like, “Oh, no.” Yeah. We’re trying to we’re trying I was trying to follow it architecturally and and like I was putting the map of the game. I’m like, “Okay, wait a minute.” We went through the building of the capital satellite building. So I remember we went down that road and then but they had they had an element that they didn’t have in the show, but it still functioned the same way because of gameplay. And I was like, and again, as soon as they went down, I was just like I was like, “Oh no.” And I I was I I didn’t say it. Then Sam said it. I was like, “Oh, yes.” tiny the fact that they built these structures like from architecture standpoint like I am so impressed like when you see like those bodies hanging up I was like I played through this area I know this area so well um when you’re in the train station I know every sideline area where that is and it’s as it’s it’s actually worse in certain sense playing it versus even seeing it but I love how they were able to execute it because it felt felt like it was an impossible situation. In the game, I felt like I can make it make it through. In this, I didn’t think they could make it through. I thought at any kind of moment, right? Like I I didn’t think there was a way of making it. Now, what what was the because I know everyone here except for me, the guitar scene like was was very See, look all all three of y’all. Come on, man. Come on, dog. We can’t talk about that, dog. Cuz for me, like what what I I guess what what I interpreted in that scene in a weird way was the first time that uh Dena like put down all her walls and actually showed her her love towards Ellie. Mhm. Cuz just being able to sit there and, you know, just take it all in. Um, but I guess for me, I didn’t know if there was if there’s something bigger significance to that that obviously hits you guys a little bit different than me. So, I I’ll say for me, um, you know, the person who taught her to play Yeah. was Joel, right? Um, and you know, when I was playing the game, getting that moment was cathartic. Uh, it was kind of like Joel’s still here, right? His spirit is still there. Oh, I didn’t even think about it that way. But true, because you guys when you guys started playing the game, you were saying that it’s basically starts with Joel dying almost immediately. So, no, we didn’t have there was no we we didn’t know what the hell was going on and he that man’s gone and half of us are concerned whether or not we’re going to quit the game. The other half is like we want to hate play it, you know, and so watching this, right? When you’re playing the game and seeing this scene, it’s like, man, it’s so beautiful. I think the difference with this scene versus the game is this woman right here. She acted her off. Yes, Bella can sing. She’s amazing artist in general, but the actress playing role, Adena, there’s different things happening here. She already knows how much she loves Ellie, right? But it’s different showing it. Like she’s, like you said, she’s letting her guard down, but she’s also showing this girl like, “You’re so beautiful. Like you’re so amazing.” She said in one line when they were like riding like, “Man, like I was trying to look like a badass.” Like, “No, you don’t have to try.” Like there there’s intent there, right? But it was that moment that she was like, “She’s special.” That’s that’s what I really got from from Dena that I didn’t get necessarily from the game is that we know the Ellie special, but it’s different somebody seeing and admiring something out of cuz she couldn’t even really say she was like, “Oh, you you you’ve gotten a lot better.” Like she Yeah. It was like if she was completely like taken aback from from not just the beauty but like almost like when you see like you know your wife or or your spouse like do something like just so incredible that you you literally just sit there in awe of you know like just the whole nine yards. And and obviously like the background with like you know all the greenery plus that hole with the light coming through it like it it’s very in a weird way like angelic looking. Um but no yeah I just that was the one scene where I I wasn’t hearing you guys talk about it now. can see how that’s like almost like you’re going through the grief cycle, you know, like, okay, we’re we’re okay. Like, like Joel’s still going to be sprinkled in throughout, you know, the whole the whole series. See, and even this like, yep, this sounds silly, but you look at this and with her sitting to the side, how she is, and and even how she’s sitting, it I think the way that they shot it makes it so much more intimate. Like you you have someone who’s literally sitting right in front of her, you know, almost cross-legged just like looking straight at her. Yeah. Like admiring like what she’s doing. Like here it’s almost like it’s like a friend listening to a friend play the guitar like and maybe it’s cuz I I have not seen the gameplay and I’m not seeing it like you know moving and and seeing the cut of it. But I think the way that they shot it you they they portrayed like Yeah. like her her face like portrays just like admiration, love, like like that’s her person. Yeah. Um it almost looked like someone she had seen someone has been through so much and it’s the first time in a while that for a second she was in peace. She was not not smiling but happy. Like there was no tensions that that like she was just pure living in the moment. And I think Dena was lucky be like, I’m I’m witnessing this. And I’m like and and I’m pretty sure she said, I wish Joel was here to watch this. I wish Joel could could see this. And yeah, Jorge, since this game came out, I’ve never seen guitars the same way. Like after this game, like this game, like again, you know, it’s with movies. You hear a song and that song is just stuck with a movie or with a character or with like a franchise. Yeah. And we had to actually play it, too. Like we had to actually play it. Yeah. Um, that was part of the game play. Oh, that’s kind of cool. That’s dope. Okay. Yeah, the different threads and everything, you actually have to strum those and learn it. You can actually play different songs like in certain sense uh there’s like free play that you could actually play. Um, it’s actually really dope. Okay, that’s that’s a real cool u I guess mechanism in the game. I I would not have thought that. I would have thought it would have just been almost just a seamless. Yeah. Just like a seamless cut scene where it’s like cool play. That’s really neat. Okay. Yeah. And I think that the other thing that happened to me and I don’t know if you guys disagree or not, but this scene kind of came back. Oh man, I can’t wait. Oh man. Again, because being a fan, like I was already like was saying like the echoes of Joe and and all that stuff. Like I was seeing that stuff play out like in my mind I was seeing three four moments play around the same time just by hearing Ellie sing and play and watching Dena watch her. Like it’s it’s fascinating what these characters and these stories do to you when you’re experiencing a tale you know already and in your mind you’re in the moment and yet you feel the presence of those two other or you know those other moments that are going to like sink again. Like it’ll be the the talk we’ve had this far in this episode this review. It’ll be very interesting to look back once this whole story’s this whole story has been told and see whoa where we were again. Even that shot of her like tuning the guitar is right out of the the announcement trailer right out. Yeah. No, it it definitely was. I think that even with all the issues, I I think this one has so much that it it gave us in this episode. Yeah. Um so yeah. Yeah, they weren’t holding back. I mean, not not to say that the last episode held anything back. It’s just they they were swinging in this episode. They they didn’t care like some stuff was gonna land or not. They were like, “We going to swing.” But um let’s uh give our concluding thoughts and uh letter grades. Uh or since you’re here, you first. Um I I think uh this this episode’s hard to grade. I’m not even going to lie. Um, I I I think progressing the story I think this is one of those episodes that looking at it now, it it’s very confusing to me and I’m I’m not able to to piece all the pieces together. But I think come like an episode or two from now, I’ll look back and and I’ll probably I’ll grade this higher because it it’ll it’ll make more sense. like that puzzle piece will will fit into the to the puzzle. Um I I mean I would probably put this as like a B+. Um I I think that one scene for me just kind of took me out of this like this world because I I think I just got in my head too much. And hopefully once you know a little bit further down like I said when when we kind of see this whole thing from start to finish it’ll be different. But I I’m worried for Dena. I think is the nicest way that I I’ll I’ll say this because of um just be just because of how this this story has played out. like I I I I don’t want to I don’t want to be like too invested in something that may end up becoming like a Joel part two, you know, now that I know that that’s even a possibility, right? Um that’s fair. Yeah. So, I I think there’s just so much that I’m like I I’m wondering what’s happening like back home. I’m wondering what’s happening with Abby. I’m like there there’s so many whatifs. So, no, I I I think this was a a good episode. Um I’m just I’m I’m wondering where I’m wondering where this is going to take us. There we go. That’s fair enough. That’s That’s the nicest way that I’ll put it. I’m trying to wonder where this is going to take us. And I think you also need to give yourself a moment from a traumatic standpoint because we just went back toback episodes and yeah, for us, we know where this is going to go. You I can’t really imagine what’s going on through your head. Yeah. And I know playing the game again when when Joel died, like I was I was not good and it took a lot to continue to play. And even to this day, some of us here still don’t know how we feel about the choices that were made in the game. So, it’s like you’re you’re having to deal with it in real time. We’re having to deal with the trauma of it. But, uh, uh, D, closing thoughts and rating on the episode. Um, man, oh man, I I really need to rewatch this episode. Lord Jesus. But, um, I think it’s because I honestly feel conflicted with it. I mean, there’s I mean, there’s a lot of great moments in this episode, 100%. But um I just for as many great moments as there were, I I feel like there was a fair amount or like a there were just some moments that gave me like red flags that didn’t exist before. It’s kind of the first episode to really give me like a substantial red flag maybe. Um cuz I’m like oh [ __ ] is the structure or like the pacing off or something like that? because I was like, “Oh, fuck.” Like, “Should should each season have been like 10 13 episodes?” I don’t know. It’s interesting. But, um, I don’t know. I probably give it like a seven, maybe like a C plus, something like that. Um, yeah. Yeah. There’s a lot to There’s a lot to enjoy, but there’s there’s some aspects that make me nervous. Wait, wait. You said the last episode, you said this was better than the last episode, though. [Music] It has some moments that made me more excited than the last episode. That’s for sure. But um like I’m not saying it’s bad, but this is the first time I ever was like, “Oh man, are [Music] we I’m just unsure about the overall execution. If it’s gonna if if it’s gonna go away that satisfies me, I suppose. Okay. I just want to clarify because last episode I think you gave it like a B. Yeah, I think Yeah, I g I g I think I gave it like a eight out of 10. Like a B minus. Um it was it was it was strong. Um Okay. No, it’s fine. It’s it’s I don’t want to question your both I don’t know. I don’t know. I I’m seeing more flaws than like you and and and Ronin are for sure, but um I’ve kind of been like this with season one as well. I wasn’t as like thrilled about season one as you guys were, for example. Never said it was bad, but um God, I wish I wish more people I wish I could just like touch someone’s brain and just let them just like experience the game in just like a few seconds just so they can know the game. It’s It’s like It’s like trying to I don’t know. It’s like trying to make a remake of The Godfather. It’s like I don’t know if this is going to work out very well. Like The Godfather’s kind of perfectly told. Yeah. Um I get I get it’s a video game, but clearly the quality of the show speaks to just how masterful the game is. Um especially as a storytelling device. Jesus Christ. But um they took so many wild swings in this episode. It’s like there obviously it’s entertaining and it’s not bad, but it’s just like it sounds like you’re more concerned about the it’s it’s feeling it’s feeling very season 7, season 8 of Game of Thrones where it’s like there’s no denying there’s like these bombastic moments happening, but it’s like whoa, like is the pacing where it should be? Like is the structure where it should be, you know? Um, yeah, we could slow we could slow down the story a bit. You know what I’m saying? Like there’s so much that happens in the game. It really is like gargantuan. Holy [ __ ] And they’re telling this bad boy as if like because of budgetary reasons. Yeah. I I mean what I’m saying is that it sounds like you’re more concerned about what how this is going to end than necessarily the episode itself. the episode sound like more give you like warning signs than anything. Yeah. But it didn’t it didn’t necessarily say that the episode’s bad. Um what I’ll say is that we talked about this before the season came out and one of the things that I had hoped for is that it was going to be linear. It wasn’t going to be nonlinear. That’s one of the things I was actually hoping for because I wanted to have more time. I wanted the five-year gap to give us like content. I didn’t want it to be I didn’t want them to try to attempt to do what they did in the game. But now that they’ve done it, it is what it is. I’ve accepted it. But just have to trust the process the way I’m thinking about it. But um Ronin, what are your closing thoughts and rating? Man, um I dug this episode a lot. I think I think still two still packs the punchest of them all and is the strongest one. I can’t necessarily say it’s my fair one just because I literally it broke me. Um, but this one was the one that I I was like I had more fun with it and yet although I know where the story ends, I was nervous for their well-being. Like, oh shoot, get up there. Get up there. I kept saying and I’m like like what am I talking about? I know what’s going to happen. But but then again, kudos to the writing, kudos to the production design, and kudos to Bella and and Isabelle where I was just like, “Please get up there like like like stop taking your chances when I like go move.” Um, I think Jeffrey Wright just comes back and I think he already has a lot more to do and was given more to do than what he did in the game just in this episode alone. Um, and I really loved the moment with Ellie up on the rooftop. She’s seen that and like she’s just looking at it and I I could tell instantly without saying a word, she was processing everything. I’m like, “Okay, I got to go after them.” But damn, the love of my life is pregnant and what do I got to do? What What do I do? What do I do? So, I love that moment for Bella Ramsey, what she did with Ellie and um yeah, Isabella has been a highlight. I think they got really really really lucky in casting her as uh Dena and um it was cool to see a lot of the gameplay stuff play out and I had no issue with with the the buildup of like revealing of pregnancy and then the love scene and uh but then again this is my first time watching it. We’ll see how I feel about it in second third viewing. Um, but I think this is probably, if not my favorite, my second favorite episode in the and the second best one of the season thus far. Yeah. And also the the guitar scene. That’s Oh, it was great. It was so great. What was your What was your rating, D? Um, I go I’ll go I’ll give it an A. Maybe a minus, but I I’ll go an A. Yeah, I think it’s better than the last episode. Damn. All right. So, for me, uh, my biggest gripe honestly was the execution of the reveal of the pregnancy. I can imagine in a world where you you love this girl, you’ve been holding a gun in her head all night long. Do I think that after the fact that she realized like, crap, she’s not going to die. I probably would have broke down crying, right, if I was her. And like I I was gonna kill you. I was gonna kill you. And I didn’t I I probably would have probably killed myself or something like that. Saying something like that from a written standpoint and then like you know slowly Ellie come up to her and just hold her, right? And then they intimately kiss and then it proceeds some not her having pulled the gun on her and immediately going up and kisses girl. I think that that is the difference in subtlety with pacing as far as a game versus like transition. And I think that you could have had that intimate moment and then they wake up, they hearing something going on, they go up to the roof and then Dena’s like, “Look, there’s something else I got to tell you. I didn’t have time because I was scared all last night, but I found out I was pregnant.” And then like, “Show up the pregnancy test.” And then Ellie’s like, “Are you sure?” She just throws all the pregnancy tests down there. I promise you, what do you want to do? And then Ellie hadn’t made that choice. Then you end the episode. That’s how I would have written it. But again, like I’ve directed before. I’ve written before. So that was their choice to do it the way they did. Outside of that, I had no issue with anything else in this episode. I thought it was great. I enjoyed Jeffrey Dean Jeffrey Jeffrey Wright’s introduction. I think that this episode had one of the best moments in the whole entire series. Um, this was really well done as far as the tension and the action. This is my second or third favorite episode of the season thus far. I think it’s my second favorite because the the first episode, I think it did a really good job of maintaining things that were needed for Aby’s story. But the second episode, of course, is the best. Third episode, it gave really great context with even a slow burn. But from an intensity standpoint, like this is this is my second favorite episode. Um, but I do think that I do question how this is going to turn out, but I’ve had that question from the beginning. Like this wasn’t a red flag. I just felt now like this is something that I’ve questioned how they’re going to round out the the the season two in general. But I think it just should have written the the pregnancy and the transition better, and I think it have been a better episode. This should have been an A+ episode, but it’s a A minus or a B+ for me. Yeah. Interesting. Seven episodes is crazy. They’re crazy. I mean, the first one was nine or eight, right? Eight, right? First season, I think. So, first first season was nine episodes. It was nine. Oh, yeah. Um, but yeah, at least we’re getting the third season. Uh, we’re gonna go, you guys. Thank you guys so much for watching. Uh we’re gonna give a shout out to our soldier in the background. Ty didn’t make it the infected got him. But we’ll be back for five. Um and if you guys don’t know, we do have bottles of bricks. Bottles of bricks where we go deep into the lore of The Last of Us and Last of Us 2. Uh, we will be talking a lot more spoilerfree things in relation to the game and breaking up some certain things and threads that Jorge has unearthed in front of us right here today that he unfortunately can’t be a part of. But, um, thank you guys so much for watching. We’ll be back a little bit later on. It is late. We got to go to bed. Peace y’all. [Music] picking my radius on time.
